The Tears Of A Flower
by Rayne Days
Summary: Stuck with an abuser, and a life she doesn't want, Cat has secrets she hasn't shared with anyone. They tear her apart everyday and she struggles with her life. Rated M for Adult themes and language, Violence. Likely Cori.
1. Tears In The Night

Hey all! Welcome to my first story. Word of warning, this will contain adult themes and language, as well as some violence. Please Please Please stop reading now if you are too young or are wishing to read a happy fluffy story. That said, this first chapter is somewhat of an introduction that will hopefully make you wonder about what has happened leading up to this point. But enough talking from me, enjoy!

~Disclaimer: I do not own Victorious or anything/anyone involved with it. If I did...well...lets just say Miss Grande would be my best friend in the whole wide world!~

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The door slammed behind her as she ran into her room. The yelling and shouting continued as she sat down at the foot of her bed, tears streaming down her smooth cheeks. Hair cascading over her face, she felt miserable, and even worse she felt hopeless. _It's my fault._ She thought. _It's always my fault. Maybe I could be a better daughter, one he would be proud of. Then it will all be better, I know it, it has to._

Her mind told her body to stand up, but her body refused to listen. She reluctantly gave into the cries of pain from her body and stayed there, listening as the shouts of the adults began to subside downstairs. The front door slammed shut and a car started up outside in the driveway. _She must have finally told him to leave. _

She heard her mother shuffle up the stairs and knock slowly on her door.

"Tigger?"

_She only uses her nickname for me when I'm upset and she wants to cheer me up, well too bad, I don't want to talk right now._

"Sweetie, please, come out of there. He didn't mean what he said, you know how he gets when you frustrate him."

_Fuck you! I wanted to scream at her. You're still defending that pathetic excuse of a human being. You don't get it, I don't want to talk. I want to disappear. I want to be anywhere but here. _

She knocked softly on the door twice more before making her way back downstairs. I allowed myself a brief smirk, knowing that my silence drove her crazy. The tears had stopped flowing and my vision was no longer blurred. I brushed my hair to the side and hauled myself up and onto my bed.

_"Worthless."_

The word echoed inside my head every time the world around me went quiet. It hurt the first couple times that he said it to me, but then I began to believe that he was right. I started to believe what he told me, that it truly is my fault. That it's my fault that I am a "worthless piece of shit".

I fell backward, head hitting the pillow and stared at the ceiling. My hands were on my stomach and I could feel it rise and fall steadily as I breathed in and out.

_What's wrong with me? _

It was a question I had pondered many times before and hadn't been able to come up with an answer. Then I had it thrown in my face with one simple word. _"Worthless"_

_I am worthless._

I got up and out of my bed, peeled my clothes off to change, but after five minutes of fruitless searching for my pajama bottoms I threw my hands up in resignation. I pulled on my favourite panties and moved towards my bed. It was still early, only about 8:00 P.M. but I was tired and the thought of being awake for any longer for this day filled me with despair. Just as I was about to drop into my bed I stopped dead in my tracks, a feeling a misery welled up inside of me. I had forgotten to take that damn mirror down. I was stuck there, staring straight at a girl who couldn't possibly be me. The girl in the mirror had a large bruise on the side of her face and streaks of blood marking a cut above her eye. Hair disheveled, the girl in the mirror looked like a monster. I realized with a start, that monster was me. He had struck me, not once, but twice. And he had left his mark for all to see. My hand reached up and stroked the bruise that ran down the side of my face. It stung to touch. My eyes started to water again, I couldn't help it. Fresh tears poured down my face. It had all felt unreal until I saw the damage that he had caused my face.

_He hit me. He actually hit me. _

This was the first time he had actually laid a hand on me and followed through with his threats. I became aware of the painful throbbing that was coming from my forehead. Becoming dizzy, I sat down on my bed and tried to stop the rush of tears. My thoughts went to school tomorrow. What will I tell people? I quickly decided that I would try to hide it the best I could and if anyone asked, I would tell them I fell down the stairs. People already think I'm clumsy, it won't be hard for them to believe my story. Pulling the covers up over me I laid my head on my pillow. The last thing I saw before closing my eyes was a lock of my red hair that had fallen down on my face.

It's hard to sleep at night when the tears don't stop.

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End of part 1, hope you enjoyed it and that it intrigued you enough to want more. Who is this guy who is abusing her? Why is all this happening to her and what will she do about it? (I hope you know who she is by now)

Leave me some reviews to let me know what you think, criticism is welcome! hopefully part two will get finished soon.

Stay Lovely My Dears


	2. Cupcakes

Disclaimer: I do not own Victorious or anyone involved with the show unfortunately. If I did, I probably wouldn't get anything done because my mind would stop working the moment I met Ariana...

I do not own the music of Macklemore or Karmin either. (Macklemore is a rapper from Seattle who recently has emerged into the national spotlight. Look him up on Youtube! He's amazing and the people of Seattle have been in awe of his talent since he started 2005)

This chapter adds more to the introduction and brings in more characters! Should start getting more exciting as we go!

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My head is hurting something terrible. I groan as I roll out of my bed grasping for the alarm clock that is buzzing on my dresser. It's 6:00 and school starts in a couple hours.

_Wonderful…_

I walk into my bathroom, turn the radio on and start the shower.

"Good morning Hollywood! It is 6:03 and the rain has started falling. Bundle up today, it's going to be a cold day outside. This is the Dayman waking you up in the morning on 103.5 where we dive into the latest top hits. Here is _Crash Your Party_ by Karmin"

The water had warmed up so I strip off my underwear and slip into the shower. Immediately the cut on my forehead stings as the hot water splashed against it. Knowing the stinging would go away I ignored the pain and wash my body off, letting the water hit my face and wake me up. I usually sing in the shower, I love singing, but I just couldn't today. After I deem my body to be clean enough, I flip the shower handle off and step out of the shower and grab my towel.

_Well Cat, it won't be fun, but you can do this._

I studied myself in the mirror. One of the few things that I liked about myself was my body, even if I did think I was too small. I had just barely broken the five foot mark last summer and now stand at five foot three. I twisted my body so that I could see the flower tattoo on my shoulder blade. I had gotten it on my 18th birthday last June. It's so beautiful and I have never had any regrets in getting it. My mother was horrified that I had gotten it, she told me only stoners got tattoos. I disagreed with her, tried to explain to her the reason why I got it, but she just folded her arms and gave me a cross look. Refocusing my attention on the injuries on my face, I tried my best to cover up the bruise using makeup, but soon gave up, realizing that I wouldn't be able to hide it.

I moved back to my room to get dressed, pulling on a worn pair of jeans that clung tight to my legs, a white t-shirt and my pink zip up hoodie. I left my hair down and hopped up on my bed to paint my nails quickly before leaving. For this day I chose a very light pink, it almost looks white, which goes well with my hoodie. The clock read 6:48 as I grabbed my backpack and my mp3 player and walked out the door, taking special care to avoid my mother.

The wind hit my face the moment I stepped outside, so I threw my hood up and started to make my way towards the bus stop. I had no doubt that everyone at school would be complaining about the weather, but I don't mind it. It reminds me of when I was younger and my family lived in Seattle. That was before everything got bad and _He _entered into my life. As I walked up to the bus stop Mary waved at me. Mary lives down the street from me with her husband and two children, I babysit them sometimes.

"Hello Miss Cat! How are you on this miserable drizzly day?"

"Hi Mary" I reply. "I'm okay I guess, I love this weather though, it reminds me of home."

"Oh yes I always forget, you're used to living in the rain. Oh my God! What happened to you Cat?"

As I had approached her, she had noticed the injuries to my face. "Oh you know me, I'm clumsy. I fell down the stairs last night. It was actually rather fun to tumble down the stairs until I hit my face. I'm alright though."

"Oh Cat, you need to be more careful, you're going to damage that beautiful face of yours."

"Don't worry Mary" I said. "I don't want to do anything like that again; it hurt really bad when I reached the bottom."

My bus pulled up and I said goodbye to Mary, wishing her a good day. The bus was sparsely filled, only a few seats were occupied. I saw that the middle seats, the ones in the bendy part of the bus were free and went to sit down. This is my favourite spot on the bus; it twists around as we go around turns. I turn on my music and zone out as the bus makes its way through its morning route. I get off the bus as it reaches school and suffer through my morning classes, avoiding my friends in the hallways. The lunch bell rings and I walk hesitantly into the cafeteria. Andre sees me and waves me over to the table, so I walk over.

"What up Lil' Red?" Andre asks as I walk up. "You're not bouncing like your usual self. Are you…"

Jade interrupts him and yells "Cat what the fuck happened to you?"

"Jade don't swear! You I don't like it" I tell her. "And I fell down the stairs last night and bumped my face, it's okay though. It doesn't hurt much." I can feel my face heat up and turn red as everyone at the table starts staring at me.

"You sure you're okay Cat?" Tori asks, studying the bruise "That looks really painful!"

"No it's okay, I'm fine. It looks a lot worse than it is. Besides, I have cupcakes in my lunch, how can I be sad when I have cupcakes?" I force a smile and pull a cupcake out and start eating it.

As soon as I pull the cupcake out they go back to talking, it's like I'm not even there. Jade starts yelling at Robbie to "go burn that fucking puppet". Jade sure swears a lot, she always seems so angry at the world and I've often wondered why she's like that.

_I admire Jade, she is always so upfront and honest to people, even if she's brutally honest about what she thinks. Sometimes wish I could be more like her, be angry at the world. But instead I hide it by being all bubbly and optimistic. I can't help it and I don't know why. _

My thoughts are interrupted by a plate of salad flying across the table, some of it lands in my hair.

"Robbie I swear to fucking God, I will destroy that puppet and shove it somewhere the sun don't shine."

_Jade's yelling again. Robbie doesn't mean it, he's just weird. Not weird like me, but weird a creepy puppet wielding boy kind of way. But he is nice and always kind to me, even if he tries to flirt with me way too much._

Jade was now standing over Robbie who was gathering up his stuff and ran quickly out of the cafeteria.

"Jade you shouldn't be so mean to Robbie, he's not that bad" Tori told her.

_Yeah Jade, being angry is one thing, but always getting after people like that isn't okay if they don't deserve it. Sometimes they do, but not always._

"Oh shove it Vega, you know he was bothering you too."

Tori shook her head and said "Alright Jade, he was annoying me, but we can just put up with him instead of ripping his head off like that."

_Tori's really pretty, I like her smile._

Beck puts his arm on Jade's shoulder and pulls her away from the table. "Come on babe, let's go before lunch ends, I want to grab something from my car."

Tori flashes Beck a grateful look and goes back to eating her lunch. Jade stares her down all the way out of the cafeteria with a look that could kill.

_Jade never looks at me like that, or gets angry at me either. I wonder why that is?_

Andre, Tori and I all finish up our lunch and head off to finish up our classes. Classes were boring and I couldn't really pay attention well. The only thoughts that filled my mind were that I didn't want to go home, I didn't want to put up with that stuff anymore. I had two escapes from it, and one was school, and the other was the gym. I took up kickboxing two years ago, my brother pushed me into it. At first it was a way to stay in shape, but then it became a place where I didn't have to worry about anything. I always smile as I walk into the gym too, who would have thought that little bubbly Cat Valentine would ever take up a sport like kickboxing?

_They wouldn't even believe me if I told them what I did every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday night._

Dreading my return home for the night, I linger at my locker for a while, talking to people as they pass by. Eventually the halls empty and I start making my way towards the bus stop. The wind bites my face when I step outside. I am almost to my bus stop when a car pulls up to the sidewalk next to me with the window rolled down.

"Cat!"

_It's Tori!_

"Hi Tori!"

Tori leans over and opens the passenger door. "Need a ride?" She asks me.

"That would be wonderful!" I say to her as I hop into the car. "I get to work the radio!"

_It smells like strawberries, I like strawberries._

"Alright Cat, but pick out something good okay?"

"Kay kay" I reply, hitting the button until I find a song I like. Macklemore's _Thrift Shop _one of my favourite songs! I can't help but start to sing along. "I'm gonna pop some tags, only got 20 dollars in my pocket…"

_Tori has got a big smile on her face, it's a really cute smile._

"…This is freakin' awesome!" I sing the whole song and Tori breaks out into giggles as it ends.

"Cat it's so adorable that you won't swear even though it's part of the song" She tells me.

We sing along to the radio all the way to my house. As we pull up to it, my fun ends and my mind goes to what happened the night before.

_Will he be back tonight? If he is back again, will he yell at me again?_

I thank Tori for the ride and wave to her as she drives away. I walk slowly up the walkway to my front door and step inside.

What kind of home is a place you hate being at?

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Hope you enjoyed the chapter, I will probably get the next chapter in by next week, may be a little late depending on the amount of school work I get.

I would love for you guys to take a little time and drop me a review and tell me what you think!


	3. An Unhappy Home

Hey Guys! I meant for this update to be up on Friday, but I got caught up with schoolwork and other things. I'm not super thrilled with the way this chapter turned out, but I hope you enjoy it, I promise things are going to pick up here pretty soon.

*Disclaimer: I do not own Victorious ect ect. If I did, well you probably wouldn't be able to put it on television...

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The door creaks as it opens and I step into my living room. I don't want to see my mother, I don't want to see him, sitting in "His chair" at the kitchen table reading the newspaper like he does most day when I get home from school. With his smug "I'm better than you" look and his evil eyes, his evil fucking eyes.

_If he's here I'm leaving. I don't know where I'll go, but I can't stay here with him. _

I can hear noise coming from the other room, someone has the television on and I can hear the hosts from _Good Morning America _talking about the latest big workout trend for stay at home mothers.

_It's mom out there then._

My mother always records it so that she can watch it when she gets home from work. She says it has good information and is a great way to keep up with what is going on in the rest of the country. I think she just wants to look knowledgeable about things to show off to her friends.

I still don't know if he's here, so I slip my shoes off, set my backpack on the floor and step lightly towards the kitchen in just my socks hoping to stifle my footsteps. If he is in the kitchen I don't want him to hear me, that way I can turn right back around and leave. Looking around the corner I find an empty kitchen and I breathe out in relief. I turn around and go to grab my backpack before heading upstairs to my room. Just as I place my foot on the first step, a hand grabs my shoulder from behind.

"Caterina?" My mother turns me around and keeps her hand on my shoulder. "Honey, can we please talk about what happened last night? I don't want you to be mad about it, it was all just a big accident okay?"

She looks at me intently, waiting for my response. I just stare at her, there is nothing I want to say to her if she is going to keep acting like there is nothing wrong. She is blind when it comes to him, she thinks he's always right.

_I'm her daughter for God's sake and she just turns her head the other way and acts like everything is sunshine and daisies. _

She shakes my shoulder in an effort to get a response.

"Caterina please say something."

I push her hand off my shoulder, turn on my heel and climb up the stairs to my room. I can hear her following me, saying my name, but I just ignore her. At the top of the stairs she grabs my shoulder again and I turn around and look her right in the eye.

"Mom stop. You know what he did, you can see the damage he left on my face. Just stop and leave me alone I'm not talking to you." With that said, I leave her standing on the top stair and escape into the safety of my room, closing the door behind me. The moment the door clicks close, I can feel the tears start to wet my eyes. I brush them away and throw my backpack on the floor and toss my shoes into my closet.

I felt gross and decided to take a shower, so I stripped my clothes off and tossed them onto my bed. The feeling of the hot water splashing on my body relaxed me and felt absolutely wonderful on my sore muscles. My mind continued to go over what happened last night and I couldn't get the image of him out of my head. My relationship with him has become an obsession, I don't want him to have anything to do with my life, but I can't stop my thoughts. What eventually does interrupt my thoughts however is the beeping of my phone, signifying a new text message.

I turn the shower off, wrap my towel around my body and grab my phone off of the bathroom counter and punch my password in. I find a text from Zuri, my friend and sparring partner for kickboxing.

"U coming to gym 2morrow?" the text read.

I smile and type a quick reply "Wouldn't miss it" and send it off. Zuri always texts me on Mondays to see if I'm going to show up to work out the next day. She refuses to go alone anymore because one time I couldn't show up she got stuck sparring with Ryan, who apparently has a crush on her, or is just a typical pervy teenage boy. The next day she had talked my ear off about how he repeatedly touched her boobs and grope her during the spars and afterward tried to _put the moves on her_. She hardly lets a chance slide by to remind me about that day.

I set my phone back down on the counter and pull the hair brush out of the top drawer. I spend the next ten minutes running the brush through my hair to get it all nice and straight and free of tangles. As I am putting it back in the drawer my phone starts to buzz again, this time someone is calling. Picking up the phone I see Tori's picture on the screen and I quickly answer it.

"Hi Tori!" I say

"Hey Cat! So I was looking at our homework for math class, and it's got me confused as Hell, do you wanna come over and we could do it together?" Tori asks.

_Tori, you are a literal lifesaver._

"You can stay for dinner too and I'll drive you home when we are done." She says.

"Yeah sure Tor! I'll get ready now and come over soon!"

"Alright awesome Cat, see you in a little bit."

I hang up the phone and look at myself in the mirror. I want to look good if I'm going to leave the house. Tori's already seen the injuries on my face so I don't bother trying to hide them again, instead I pull my hair into a pony tail and wrap a pink ribbon around it and tie it in a bow to hold it in place. A couple minutes later I look in the mirror again and deem my appearance to be satisfactory. Before leaving the bathroom to find some clean clothes to put on, I cup my hands under my boobs and study them for a moment. Being ever self-conscious about my body, my boobs were one thing I am very proud of, Zuri claims that it's the pushups we do that keep them so perky. She says that it tightens the muscles in our chests and improves the look of our breasts. I'm not sure if she really knows what she is talking about, but then again, I haven't been uncomfortable with my breasts since they first started to come in during middle school. Some of the girls who developed faster and started to wear bras would be mean to the other girls, they would be mean to me. One girl in particular, Sierra Gooden, signaled me out and made fun of me on several occasions. The time that hurt the most was when she told me that my breasts were like googly eyes because they were small, not the same size and shook around when I walked. That night I went home and cried for hours and wore a sports bra I got from my cousin for the rest of the year. I let my hands drop back to my side and my boobs clung to my chest looking perky and plump.

_Ha, if Sierra could see me now she would have nothing to laugh about._

I pick up my jeans and sweatshirt of my bed and decide that they are clean enough to put on again and wear tonight. Grabbing my backpack and slipping my shoes back on, I walk out of my room and down the stairs. I leave the house without telling my mother.

I put my headphones in and start to make my way towards the bus stop.

I had been given another escape.

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Well there you go! I hope this chapter was too your liking, and I hope you are starting to fall in love with this broken girl that Cat is just as I have.

Leave me a review and let me know what you think or even if there is something you would like to see happen!

What will happen in the next chapter? Will Cat and Tori be able to focus on school work, or will they get...distracted? Will we find more out about her relationship with Him and what has happened between them? Tune in next week to find out!


	4. Follow Your Heart

Hey guys! Sorry for the late update, I've had a busy week, I had my transfer application to University of Hawaii at Manoa accepted (Sooo Excited!) and I had a lot of stuff to figure out. Anyway, we get some action in this chapter as things start to pick up. Enjoy!

~Disclaimer: I do not own Victorious or any of the people affiliated with it...unfortunately...Otherwise, well I'm not actually sure what I would do, but I would probably do a lot of things with the gorgeous Tori Cat and Jade. I wish I could know them haha! (don't we all)

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With the first couple steps I take out the front door, I can feel a sense of relief run through my body. I really couldn't stand to deal with my mother tonight or have to think about the events of the previous night. Sure she'll get mad at me for leaving the house without telling her, but this is hardly the first time I will have left the without telling her. Usually I go to the park when I have problems at home I don't want to deal with. Last year I discovered a little rock the sits in front of the quiet little pond that makes for a perfect place for me to sit and gather my thoughts. I have been frequenting that spot more and more recently, ever since he came into my life. It's my place, I feel in control and safe when I'm there, close to the opposite of what I feel when I'm at home. Today though, today I'm not leaving the house with the usual pain in my heart that leads me to my place near the pond. I can feel a small flicker of happiness and hope well up in my chest as I approached the bus stop. I was given an escape from the life that plagues me from the moment I step inside my house.

The wait for the bus proved to be longer than I expected, so I let my mind start to wander. Immediately my thoughts jumped to Tori and how we had met. I had just arrived and was the new kid in school. I was insecure with myself and uncomfortable with being in a new place with new faces, not to mention the problems I was having at home. I struggled through the first couple weeks, but soon my "new kid" status was shifted to the brown haired, glasses wearing girl who had walked through the school doors. It wasn't more than five minutes into her first day that I walked right smack into her, knocking her books into the air and she fell backwards onto the floor. Me, being the accident prone girl that I am, preceded to trip over her as she fell and land in a heap besides her. The laughter of the other kids stung my ears as I scrambled to gather her up her books that were strewn across the floor. Placing the books in her lap, and being my ever awkward self, gave her a small smile and said "Hi, my name's Caterina but you can call me Cat. You're really pretty, sorry for running into you." I blushed and quickly turned the other way and hurried down the hall, not giving her a chance to reply and leaving her sitting on the floor with the books stacked at an odd angle in her lap. I immediately went to the bathroom and spent first period scolding myself for being such a ditzy idiot. I was so embarrassed by our first encounter that I continued to avoid her for the next couple days even though I could tell she wanted to talk to me. I would turn right around and run the other way anytime I saw her coming. She eventually caught me at my locker and stood behind me waiting for me to turn around. I remember letting out a gasp as she stared me right in the eyes. So many thoughts went through my mind at that moment, and all of them brought me to the same conclusion, that this girl hates me and she is going to hurt me. I'm sure I looked startled as she gave me a quick hug and said "Hi, my name's Victoria but you can call me Tori. You're really pretty yourself."

We've been friends ever since, well up until my life at home went south and I started to avoid my friends and according to Beck, "lose my usual bubbly happiness". I had let my problems at home affect my life amongst my friends, and until today, Tori had stopped talking to me.

"Hey you! Are ya getting on or what?" I had become so lost in my thoughts that I hadn't even noticed that the bus had pulled up alongside the curb until the driver yelled at me. I stepped onto the bus and paid the bus fare, saying sorry to the driver as I went.

"Fucking teenagers, always getting stoned outta their minds." I heard the bus driver mumble after I had taken my seat.

_Hey that's not fair…I was just lost in my thoughts, not stoned. I don't do drugs and I've only ever smoked weed a couple times. I didn't like the way it made me feel so I stopped. I'm not a pothead like some of the other kids at school. _

I thought about confronting him and explaining why I didn't notice the bus pull up, but figured that I would just look more like a freak if I did. So instead I plopped down in my seat and stared out the window. The streets flew by on the other side of the window. It was the swirling black cloud that caught my eye. From my seat on the bus, I could see the dark black smoke drifting from the house across the street.

"Hey stop! There's a fire over there, we need to help!" I shouted to the bus driver as he flew past the house.

"Yeah whatever kid, next time lay off the blunts and you'll stop seeing things." He replied with a not so friendly tone.

"Fine just let me off here then, if you're not going to help then I will." I shot back. He looked at me with hate in his eyes and continued to drive down the road. "What are you doing? I asked to get off here! Someone could be in trouble!"

"Sorry kid, but you can get off at the next stop, now go sit down before I toss you off this bus myself." He snapped at me. I stood my ground and glared at him.

_I can't believe this guy. He is such an ass! Someone could be trapped in there right now unable to get out and he's going to be a stubborn jerk because I'm 18 years old. Like I'd really say there's a fire when there isn't one._

The bus pulled up to the stop and I dashed out the door and started running back down the street. I probably looked like a maniac, but I could only think about someone being trapped in that house as it burned down. I was out of breath by the time I reached the house and could see the flames licking the windows, giving off an eerie light that danced on the front lawn. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and dialed 911 and gave the lady who answered the address of the house. Shoving my phone back into my pocket, I started shouting into the house "Hello is anyone in there?" I received no reply and did something really stupid. I ran through the front door, arm raised to protect my face. I yelled out again and still heard nothing. Part of me felt like I needed to search the rest of the house, but my rational side won and I stumbled back out the front door, coughing the smoke out of my lungs. I fell forward on the lawn and felt a pair of strong hands pull me forward away from the house. An ambulance and fire truck sat on the street and a paramedic was staring down at me asking me questions. Everything was happening in a rush, I just kept staring back into the raging inferno in front of me, hoping I hadn't left someone to perish in the flames. Somewhere behind me I could hear someone talking to the fire chief.

"I think that the girl who came out of the house is on drugs or something. We were on the bus and she started shouting about a fire, but the driver said there was no fire. She got off the bus and ran down the street. I got off and followed her and when I got here the house was burning and she was inside. I think she might have started it, if she is on drugs than it's no surprise really. Kids these days are on all kinds of drugs."

I hardly registered what the man had said, I just sat on the lawn and watched as the firemen sprayed water into the blaze. Someone lifted me up from behind and started walking me over to the sidewalk curb where they sat me down and told me to stay put. It was then that I realized what the man behind me had said.

_I'm not on drugs! Why does everyone think that? I may be a bit clueless at times and easily distracted, but I'm not on drugs and I most certainly did not start that fire. I was trying to make sure that no one was in trouble and needed help! They can't seriously think that I went into the house and set it ablaze!_

Unfortunately for the time being it seemed that they believed what the man had said. A police car had pulled up in between the ambulance and the fire truck. The officer got out of the car and walked over towards me.

"Cat?" he asked

_I know that voice._

Tori's father stood there looking down at me in disbelief.

"Mr. Vega! Please, they think I'm on drugs, they think I started the fire! You know that's not me, I was just trying to make sure no one was trapped, please Mr. Vega!"

He frowned and shook his head. "Cat I'm sorry, I believe you and know you would never do something like this, but it's not my decision. Right now it seems that you are suspected of committing arson, I have to bring you into the station. Don't worry Cat, we are going to put this right. I won't let you get in trouble when you're just trying to help."

I had started shaking as I sat there. "Thank you Mr. Vega, I promise to help in any way that I can. And…I'm sorry for causing trouble for you. Will you tell Tori what happened? We were supposed to work on math together tonight."

He patted my shoulder as he led me to the police cruiser. "Of course I'll tell her Cat, and you have nothing to be sorry about, you were just following your heart. You didn't want someone getting hurt."

I sat down in the back of the cruiser.

_I followed my heart, look where that landed me. In the back of a police car, yeah that's just awesome…_

_All I did was follow my heart._

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Well there ya have it. A little backround into Tori and Cat's relationship and all of a sudden Cat has landed herself in some hot water (Asshole bus driver..) I would love it if you guys would leave me a review to let me know what you think, they really push me to work on the next chapter, so drop me a review!

Thanks for reading guys, tune in next time to find out what happens! Perhaps we will have our first meeting with the guy that is causing Cat so much pain. And soon we will learn what happened in the past that has led to all this.


	5. Camping and A New Addiction

Hey guys! Many apologies for the delayed update, I've been swamped with finals at school, family vacation and getting back into the dating scene. Hopefully you've listen to Ari's new single _The Way_ featuring Mac Miller, it's amazing and I've already got it on my zune, yes I have a zune and I'm proud of it! Haha, anyway, I hope you enjoy the update and as always, I don't own victorious or anyone involved with it.

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The black smoke furled up into the air from the top of the house and the flames danced in the windows, sending eerie shadows across the grass. I had been watching the men fight the fire from the back seat of the police car for the last hour or so, the fire was relentless. Even thought they were aided by the steady rain that continued to fall, the firemen seemed to be struggling to hold the fire at bay rather than put it out. I was mesmerized by it; something that could look so pretty could cause so many problems. I was scared. I have felt the biting heat of a fire before when I was younger, it had left a long thin burn scar up my side. Over time it has faded, but every so often I notice it in the mirror. I was 8 years old and my dad had taken my brother and me out camping. It rained the entire weekend, but we both still loved it. He showed us how to set up a tent and secure it to the ground so it wouldn't blow away. We learned how to tend a fire and hang our food in a tree to keep bears and other curious creatures away. For two rainy nights we laughed and sang and looked at the stars. And on the last day we were putting the fire out and all that was left of it were the coals at the bottom. I had just finished helping my father pack up the tent I used when I stepped backwards, tripped over the mossy log that had provided us a perfect bench for the past to nights and fell back. I landed on my side on top of the fire pit and the glowing red coals which proceeded to burn through my shirt sear my side. I remember screaming, probably loud enough to send every bird within 200 yards flying away in terror. Thankfully my father hauled me out of the pit almost instantly, and yelled at my brother to grab a water bottle. The pain was terrible. Even though it was just my side that had touched the coals, it felt as though every part of my body was being poked by needles. I think I even almost passed out because I was screaming but couldn't breathe air into my lungs. My brother poured the water over my side and it wasn't like the miracle immediate pain relief after the scream of agony like you sometimes see in the movies. I swear I saw steam come off as the water hit the burn; tears were continuous down my face. Even though the water cooled me off a bit, the pain didn't go away. My father carried me two miles up the trail to our car and drove me to the hospital. I don't remember much other than the pure suffering through of what I thought at that age was the worst thing imaginable, but I do remember what my father whispered in my ear while he made the trek with me in his arms. "Hush my little flower, I've got you, I won't ever let you go." He brushed the tears from my eyes and kissed me on the forehead and held me close. Despite the pain and how scared I was, I felt safe in his arms as he carried me, it was going to be okay.

I spent a week in the hospital, I drove the nurse crazy with my constant questions, particularly when I was doped up on painkillers and stopped making sense. They couldn't give me strong ones due to my age, but I must not need much because apparently I even tried to dance around the room resulting in lots of beeps from the hospital machines, and several out of breath and concerned looking nurses rushing into my room and scolding me. I went home and the first thing my father promised was that we would go back out and camp for real, with no accidents. He never kept that promise and ever since my heart has yearned for the days before my body had been scarred by the fire.

I am brought back to reality when someone knocks on the window of the cruiser; I look up and stare into Mr. Vega's eyes. He opens the door and offers me the passenger seat, to which I look at him questioningly. "Cat I'm not treating you like a criminal, I know you didn't break into a random house nowhere near your home with the intent to commit arson, you can ride up front with me."

"Thanks Mr. Vega" I reply lamely as I step out of the cruiser. I look over and see that the fire has started to give into the fire fighters and the pounding rain.

"I called Tori, she's going to meet us up at the station, and Cat? Don't worry about this, we are just going to ask you some questions and then you'll be free to go." He says, starting up the car and pulling away from the curb.

Relief floods through my body, in case you've never been in a position where you could potentially be going to jail, it is scary, really scary. The ride to the station Mr. Vega tries to ask me questions about how I'm doing and what's new in my life. I just give him simple answers, not really feeling like going into anything serious with him. I stare out the window and watch city pass by in a blur. Under normal circumstances I would probably have a lot of fun in the front seat of a police car, I would probably even ask to turn on the siren, but the events that have transpired over the past hour have soured my mood. I was on my way to a fun night with Tori, even if it meant studying for math, and I had to ruin it by getting off that bus and running into that dumb burning building.

We pull into the police station and go inside where Mr. Vega points to a bench where I go and sit down on. It's not as busy as I thought a police station would be, the lady behind the front desk is just staring off into space, twiddling a pencil in between her fingers, clearly just waiting till the clock hits six so that she can go home.

"Cat!" I hear my named called and I look towards where the noise came from. I see Tori and she runs over and pulls me off the bench and into her arms for a hug, which I happily return. "What the Hell were you doing you crazy little kitten?"

"Well it's nice to see you too Tori" I said looking at her. "I saw smoke and figured there was a fire. I didn't want anyone to get hurt so I ran to check, the bus driver yelled at me and called me a stoner."

"Cat you really do have too big a heart, my dad said you ran into the house to look for people, that's insane you could have gotten trapped in there! Then I would have no one to study with!" Tori gives me her sad face while she talks, she sounds mad.

"Sorry, I wasn't really thinking I guess, you're not mad at me are you? Tori I just didn't want anyone to get hurt please don't be mad at me!" I won't be able to stand it if she is mad at me right now, I didn't do anything wrong.

Tori just stares at me for a while and I'm now positive that she is angry at me for ruining our study night, but then she bursts out laughing. "Cat you're so silly and adorable, of course I'm not mad at you, what you did is awesome!"

_Please keep smiling, your smile is the prettiest thing I have ever seen._

I give her a playful push. "Tori that's not funny…I really thought you were mad at me, and I've already had a miserable day full of assholes." She grins at me and sits down on the bench by me and looks at me.

_I think I'm addicted_

"Sorry Cat, don't worry too much about what happened, my dad's going to make sure you don't get in any trouble. Anyone with half a mind will come to the conclusion that you weren't in that house to set it on fire. Let's forget about that right now though because I brought math! We gotta get some studying in if we want to pass the test tomorrow."

Maybe tonight won't be so bad. I'm here with Tori, it might not be what I thought was going to happen, but it could be worse. I get to keep looking at her smile, I get to continue to feed my addiction.

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Well hope you guys enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed writing it. Love to hear from you guys so drop me a review and leave me some feedback, it's always appreciated!

Next chapter we will be getting some answers in regards to Cat's life and what has happened to her leading up to this point. Be prepared next chapter will be going hard! We saw a touching scene between her and her dad, but why did he never keep his promise? What happened to him? Answers coming soon!

Keep Your Hearts Up guys!


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